National selector
Geoff Miller has admitted the international calendar has to change to ensure England’s cricket players are not asked to repeat the winter’s hectic schedule.

England cricket players spent most of the winter on tour

Graeme Swann and Test vice-captain Alastair Cook are among those to have voiced their displeasure at an itinerary which saw some of them spend just three days at home between the start of the Ashes tour in November and the end of their World Cup campaign last month.

The fixture pile-up has also drawn criticism from England coach Andy Flower , who admitted his side are forced to play ‘a lot of games that don’t really matter’ and blamed the schedule for injuries to a host of players at the back end of the winter.

Fears were also raised Flower could himself step down because of the length of time he spends on the road.

‘We can’t have a situation like we did in the winter and I agree entirely with what Andy Flower has said about it,’ Miller said yesterday.

‘We need to be involved in the structuring and it can’t go on as it is because it’s going to affect Test cricket – injuries and fatigue creep in.

‘We will be sitting down having a meeting after the lads have had a break, reviewing the winter and taking it from there. It will be in a week or two’s time.’

Flower, meanwhile, is now expected to agree a new three-year contract to stay in charge when he meets with England & Wales Cricket Board officials next week.